Mentee Expression of Interest

Information for Mentees
 
Background
We are seeking dairy farmers in the northern Australian dairy industry who are keen to improve their cropping productivity and soil health benchmarks through participating in the Dairy Grains Mentoring project.  Participation in the project is voluntary.  Dairy farmer mentees will be paired with a grains industry agronomist and will be expected to participate in a series of four, 2 hour online workshops, commencing on Monday, 25th October 2021.  There will be no expenses incurred from participating in these sessions.  As a mentee, it is anticipated up to 10 hours will be required initially to participate in the online series of workshops with some pre-workshop activities.  However, this is a guideline only.  Following the workshops the frequency of your communications needs to be mutually agreed with your agronomist.  Over the course of the project mentees and agronomists will work together to develop dairy relevant benchmarks around cropping productivity and soil health and will develop an individually tailored farm action plan.  Mentees and agronomists will be invited to attend a number of other extension activities including a two-day tour to grains farms on the Darling Downs and some other panel discussion events involving both the dairy and grains industries. 
 
1.     Mentoring
Mentees will need to maintain regular contact with your agronomist for a minimum period of five months, following participation in the workshop series.  Mentors provide a confidential source of advice, support and guidance to the mentee. 
2.    Online workshop series - 25th October, 1st November, 8th November and 25th November - 11am - 1pm - online using Zoom.

The Dairy Grains Mentoring project will incorporate training for agronomists and mentees during the four-session, online workshop series with Barb Bishop.  Barb has more than 30 years’ experience in leadership, teaching/training and facilitation. This experience has developed her understanding of people dynamics and people management and provides a great platform for her to facilitate learning experiences that inspire and empower people to respond proactively to needs within families, workplaces and communities.  Barb has extensive experience working in the agricultural sector.  The online workshop series has been designed to equip you with skills and tools for communicating, interacting and motivating others in your mentee role but will also equip you with skills that will be useful within your own business, working with an agronomist, other businesses and professional contacts.

Agronomists will be allocated to suitable mentees prior to the workshop, taking into account the relevant production region.  Participants at the workshop will also spend time looking at current agronomic practices across both the dairy and grains industries and focusing on best practice options from the grains industry that can be adapted for use in the dairy industry for grain-based and forage silage crops.
3. Post Workshop

The Dairy Grains mentoring project will continue for nine months post the workshop, through to June 2022.  During this period,  support will be provided to Mentees and to Mentors/agronomists on an as needs basis, to encourage communication and interaction.  The Dairy Grains Mentoring project Community of Practice will also be providing other sources of information and updates and keeping the broader dairy and grains industries up-to-date with the project and outcomes.

4. Two-day tour to six grain farms on the Darling Downs. 
 
A two-day tour to visit six grain farms on the Darling Downs is planned for early 2022.  Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) will assist Subtropical Dairy to plan a tour to farms with high productivity and high soils health benchmarks.
5. Benchmarking and on-farm action plans

In conjunction with agronomists servicing the northern Australian dairy industry, participating dairy farmers will measure a number of key benchmarks across both summer and winter crops.  Action plans to address options for short and long term practice changes will be developed for each business and shared amongst the mentoring network.

If you are interested in participating in the project, please complete the following application form.

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* 1. Personal Details

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* 2. What social media accounts/apps do you use?

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* 3. What is your role on farm?

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* 4. Please provide a brief outline of your farming/employment history:

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* 5. What do you aim to achieve by participating in the Dairy Grains Mentoring project?

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* 6. How did you find out about Dairy Grains Mentoring project?

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* 7. The information in this application will be used to prepare your mentor profile. Please use this space if you would like to add further information about yourself for your profile.

For further information about the project or this application, please contact a member of our Project Team;

Belinda Haddow – Project Manager                        belinda@subtropicaldairy.com.au            0423 003 638
Jo Srhoj – Project Officer                                         jo@subtropicaldairy.com.au                     0458 065 695

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* 8. Commitment

If selected, I agree to participate in the Dairy Grains Mentoring project for a minimum period of six months and to fulfil the role of ‘mentee’ as outlined below:
  1. Attendance and participation in the four session online workshop series.
  2. Maintain regular contact with my mentor/agronomist.
  3. Ensure confidentiality of matters discussed and information provided through the mentor relationship.
  4. Participation in the two-day tour to Darling Downs grains farms at a date to be confirmed (planned early 2022).
  5. Measuring a number of key benchmarks across summer & winter crops, as devised at the two-day workshop and development of an on-farm action plan for cropping and soil health/fertility improvement. 
  6. Provide feedback to the program co-ordinator and trainers.
  7. I consent to my personal information being used for the purpose of matching mentors.
  8. I agree to the use of photographs for the purpose of marketing and promotion of Dairy Grains Mentoring project.

Thank you for your time in preparing this application for
Dairy Grains Mentoring project.

Successful applicants will be notified shortly.
This program/project is supported by Subtropical Dairy and Dairy Australia, through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund

Subtropical Dairy and Dairy Australia collects, stores, uses, discloses and otherwise handles your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and as otherwise set out in the privacy policy available athttp://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/privacy.  

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